Memories of Shankar-Jaikishen by Sharda

Written by Singer Sharda

Shankerji loved Jaikishenji very dearly & vice versa . He treated Jaikishenji as a younger brother & Jaiji also took Shankerji like an older brother.

Jaikishenji loved to have fun , liked to go to restaurants, parties meeting friends & all & visited the music hall off & on
Where as Shankerji was a workaholic & went to the music hall every day religiously whether there was a recording or not & sat there from morning till evening.He must have his daily dose of baja playing for hours together , which he could do ‘aramse’ in his studio.

During non recording times , which were very rare & far between, Shankerji used to be in his studio , playing harmonium , accordian or the grand piano which stood there & even tabla. Sometimes trying his hands on cricket ball throwing . His hall was big enough for that.

People used to drop in all the time. Many producers ‘ offices were there in the same building like Fc mehra & others . They used to drop in to have a chat with him , talk about situations in their movies or to sign him up for their new movies, Chai will constantly be on the making & being served to all visitors

Jaikishenji will be sitting there in Bombellis having breakfast , brunch or lunch. In the next lane there was this Sophia college for girls .During break time all the girls will come out & hover around the restaurant with their giggles , ‘khus puses’ , throwing sideway glances at Jaikishenji. Some of them would venture inside the restaurant , make small talks with him & ask for autograph , Jaikishenji will gladly oblige

In the meanwhile Shammi kapoor’s huge boat like cheverlet will come zooming in the road , [no traffic like today]

Suddenly there will be shouts , shrieks & yells ‘Shammi kapoor , Shammi kapoor Shammi kapoor . There will be utter chaos. For the time being Jaikishenji will be forgotten.

Then when the car disappeared, the commotion over & the situation came back to normal the girls will turn their attention back again to Jaikishenji

At that time there were only 3 big cheverlets in Bombay, When they came in the market 3 cars were imported in India , one belonged to Shankerji one to Jaikishenji & the other to Shammi kapoorji,All the fans knew the color of the cars & knew which one belonged to who . When they see the car approaching , from far they will know who is coming &start shouting their names.

Such adoration to a music director team like a star hero have never been heard of.

Then one day Jaikishenji got married… Shankerji told me that it is a secret marriage & he has to do the ‘kanya daan ‘ So he took the place of a father & performed the ‘kanya daan ‘.

later on he told me that things were not the same . But the care , concern , love & affection between them were in tact till the end ………..